Interfolding machine



June 26, 1928.

P. J CHRISTMAN, JR

INTERFOLDING MACHINE Filed June 27, 1927 2 Sheets$hqet 5195 0 PEZZT' J r/siymdfl @4414 %$1 0 'r/W June 26, 1928.

P. J. CHRISTMAN. JR

INTERFOLDING MACHINE Filed June 2'7, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 26, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT QFFIQE.

PETER J. CHRISTMAN, JR, or GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN, AssIoNon '10 PAPER oonvnn mo MACHINE COMPANY, or GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN.

INTERFOLDING MACHINE.

Application filed June 27.

This invention relates to interfolding machines and is particularly directed to a machine for inter-folding sheets of paper, such as toilet paper, paper toweling, and the like.

This invention is an improvement over that disclosed in my Patent No. 1,637,550 of August 2, 1927, for interfolding machines, and has in general the same objects as those disclosed in such application.

Further objects of this invention are to provide an interfolding machine which has a material reduction in the number of parts effective in forming the fold and securing the interfolding action, which is provided with a novel form of holder having the double function of holding the interfolding sheets and at the same time cooperating with the tucker blades to effect the folding of the sheets, and to provide a holder which has one of its parts reciprocated back and forth across the line of feed of the paper, so that the tucker blades move into and out of the space between the lips of the holders.

Further objects are to provide an interfolding machine in which the tucker blades are so actuated that one of the blades strips the tail of each sheet of paper from the feeding means, so that the end of the paper is freely discharged from the feeding means and may be readily manipulated during the interfolding action without any possibility of the hanging of the paper in the feeding means.

7 An embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a sectional view through the machine;

Figure 2 is a view of the holders and the tucker blades in one position;

Figure 3 is a view of the position of the parts immediately after that assumed in FigureZsho-wing the upper tucker blade actively forming a fold;

Figure 4 is a View of the position of the parts immediately after that occupied in Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a view of the parts following the position shown in Figure 4 and complet ing one cycle of operations.

The machine is substantially like that disclosed in my above noted co-pending: applia t a t will be n H99 ret ac 1927. Serial No. 201,699,.

to the drawings that the machine comprises a main frame which consists of side frame bars, one of which is indicated by the refcrence character 1, which are joined by transverse channel braces 2 and 3. An upper channel brace 4 may be provided, if desired. The paper. is fed over a guid roller. t3 and passes over a main roller 6. lt is held. in place by means of the auxiliary rollers 7 and 8. The paper passes bet-ween themain roller and the cutter roller 9 which is provided with teeth or knives entering cutouts in the main roller in a well-knowninanner. The main roller is provided with a plurality of spaced grooves 10 into which stripping lingers 11' project to thus remove the paper sheet from the main roller. These fingers continue downwardly and form guides "12.. In addition to this, guides 13 are provided and are slightly spaced from the guidcs 12, as shown in the drawings. In order to as: sist the downward travel of the paper be tween the guides, a series of endless bolts 14 is provided and these. belts are carried upon upper and lower rollers 15 and 16. The sheets are fed towards a pair of holders, one of which is stationary and indicated by the reference character 17, and the other of which, indicated by the reference character 18, is mounted for reciprocation back and forth across the line of feed or travel of the paper sheet, as will hereinaftcr app ean If desired, the holder 17 may be carried by the transverse brace 14 or may be secured to any stationary portion of the machine. These holders are adapted to receive between them the interfolded sheets and are prQvided with lips 19 and 20 which cooperate with the tucker blades in forming the folds, and in addition hold the stack of paper sheets in pl cei It is to be noted that their combined width is substantially equal to the Spacing between the holders 1? and 18, or, mother words, substantially nail to the width of the inter-folded stack. l he nece iSity fQr'auX iliary means for holding the interfolded leaves in place adjacent their centers, is thus h l was as. ee pri i' s' y scribed in my above notedapplication If de i ed he ha ter 8 e am d-" re a seawater ab e 2 which is pro i ed l sides of the machine.

with recesses, receivingsteel balls 22. These balls travel in guide channels 23 formed in the stationary member 24. It is to be understood that the carriage or holder is pro vided with a rack 25 provided with teeth which mesh with tl e teeth of a segmental gear '26.

Preferably, the construction of rack and segmental gear is duplicated on opposite- The segmental gears are carried rigidly by a rock shaft 27 which is provided with a link or crank 28 to which a pitman or link 29 is pivoted. The other end of the link 29 is pivoted to the lower end of arock lever 30. This point of attachment may be adjustable. For example, the bolt 31 may cooperate with an elongated slot 32 to vary the throw of the link. The upper end of the lever is provided with a cam follower 33 in the form of a roller which cooperates with a cam 34. The cam 34 reciprocates the holder 18 outwardly across the line of feed and back to its retracted position, once for each revolution of the main shaft 35. This main shaft also carries a pair of cams at opposite ends. One pair of cams is shown in Figure 1. The cams are indicated by the reference characters 36 and 37. It is to be noted that the cam 37, as shown in shaded lines behind the broken away portion of the cam 36, is provided with two depressions. The cam 36 is provided with one depression only.

A transversely extending shaft 38 loosely carries two pairs of tucker blade levers or arms. These pairs of levers are preferably arranged at opposite ends of the machine, and one pair has been shown in the drawings. The upper lever 39 carries the roller or cam follower 40 which cooperates with the double depression cam 37 and the lower lever 41 carries the cam follower 42, also in the form of a roller which cooperates with the single depression cam 36. As stated above, this cam and lever construction is duplicated at opposite ends of the machine.

The forward or outer ends of the levers 39 and 41 carry respectively the upper and lower tucker blades 43 and 44. It is also preferable to interpose a spring between. each pair of levers so as to hold the levers in their innermost positions, as permitted by the cams. In this way, the necessity for a specially grooved cam is wholly avoided and a much simpler construction results.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows:

The paper is continuously fed over the main roller and is either partially or wholly severed into lengths by the cutter roll. It is passed from the feeding means which includes the guides 12 and 13, downwardly towards the holders 17 and 18, as indicated in Figures 2 to 5. The construction of cams is such that two strokes are imparted to the upper tucker blade 43 and one stroke to the lower tucker blade 44 for each cycle of operations of the machine. Considering the position of the parts shown in Figure 2, it will be seen that the upper tucker blade 43 is descending and the succeeding sheet 45 is being fed downwardly towards the previously fed sheet 46. The upper tucker blade continues in its descent and forms a fold in the sheet 46 while the succeeding sheet 45 is fed downwardly into this fold, as shown in Figure 3. Thereafter, the upper tucker blade rises while the sheet continues to feed and the lower holder 18 moves inwardly to its retracted position, as shown in Figure 4. Thereafter, the lower tucker blade moves upwardly and enters between the lips 20 and 19, as shown in Figure 5, and forms the upper fold in the sheet 45. At the same time, the upper tucker blade descends and strips the tail of the sheet 45 from the feeding means 12 and 13. This cycle of operations is repeated for each succeeding sheet. It is to be noted that the movable holder reciprocates back and forth across the line of feed and that the tucker blades enter from opposite directions and pass between the lips 19 and 20. It is to he noted further that the upper tucker blade makes one extra stroke and thus strips the tail of the sheet from the feeding means and prevents any possibility of clogging or hanging.

It will be seen further that the interfolding progresses in a regular manner and that the reciprocation of the lower holder 18 gradually feeds the stack of interfolded sheets from the machine.

The machine may be driven in any suitable manner, for example, the main shaft 35 may constitute the main drive shaft of the machine and the other shafts, for or;- ample, of the rollers, may be geared or otherwise connected operatively to this shaft, as described in my above noted application.

It is to be noted particularly that a very simple structure has been provided by this invention which will interfold the sheets in a regular manner and feed them from the machine, and which will also strip the tail of each sheet from the feeding means and prevent any possibility of clogging.

It is to be noted further, as pointed out in my above noted patent, that the number of parts which arev active in forming the fold in the interfolding sheets are materially reduced over the previous types of machines and consequently a higher speed of operation may be attained as there are fewer parts to. accelerate and decelerate.

It is to be noted also that the major portion of the mechanism is positioned to one side of the line of feed of the sheets and that the point of discharge of the interfolded sheets is in a relatively unobstructed portion of the machine.

Although the invention has been described in considerable detail, such description is intended as illustrative rather than limiting as the invention may be variously embodied and as the scope of such invention is to be determined as claimed.

I claim:

1. An interfolding machine comprising a movable and a stationary holder adapted to receive the interfolded sheets, guiding means for guiding sheets to said holders, means for passing the sheets through said guiding means. a pair of tucker blades cooperating with said holders to fold and tuck said sheets, said tucker blades cooperating with each other to strip said sheets from said guiding means.

2. An interfolding machine comprising a pair of holders adapted to receive between them the interfolded sheets, guiding means for guiding the sheets towards said holders, a pair of tucker blades for folding and tucking the sheets between said holders, one of said tucker blades remaining in a fold of a sheet while the other of said tucker blades strips the end of such sheet from the guiding means.

3. In an interfolding machine, the combination of means for successively feeding sheets of paper, a pair of holders for receiving the interfolded sheets between them, a pair of tucker blades alternately cooperating with said holders to fold and position the sheets between said holders, one of said tucker blades making an extra stroke in each cycle of operations to strip the tail of a sheet from the feeding means.

4. In an interfolding machine, the combination of means for feeding downwardly a succession of sheets, a pair of plates adapted to receive between themselves the interfolded sheets. each of said plates having an inwardly turned retaining lip and one of said plates being mounted for reciprocation across the line of feed of said sheets, a pair of tucker blades adapted to rock from opposite sides of said plates and tuck the sheets between said plates, said tucker blades cooperating with said lips to form folds, and means for causing the reciprocally mounted plate to move back and forth across the line of feed of said sheets and to thus move out of the way of the tucker blade cooperating with the other plate, one of said tucker blades making an extra stroke for each retraction of the lower holder to strip the tails of the sheets from the feeding means.

5. In an interfolding machine, the combination of means for successively feeding sheets, an upper holder and a lower reciprocatory holder adapted to receive the interfolded sheets with such interfolded sheets resting upon the lower holder, each of said holders having inwardly directedlips of a width jointly approximating the width of the interfolded sheets. a pair of tucker blades adapted to tuck the sheets into the space between said holders, means for reciprocating the lower of said holders and causing its lip to pass into positions in front of and behind the lip of the upper holder, and means for operating said tucker blades and giving two strokes to one of said tucker blades and one stroke to the other of said tucker blades for each cycle of operations.

6. In an interfolding machine, the combiuation of a pair of holders having inwardly directed marginal lips, means for successively feeding sheets downwardly towards said holders, an upper and a lower tucker blade adapted to tuck the sheets into the space between said holders, said holders acting as supports for the interfolded sheets, and means for causing relative motion between said tucker blades and said holders in timed relation, whereby the upper tucker blade passes downwardly between said lips and the lower tucker blade passes upwardly between said lips, said last mentioned means causing an extra stroke of said upper tucker blade to strip the tail of each sheet from the feeding means.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand at Green Bay, in the county of Brown and State of Wisconsin.

PETER J. CI-IRISTMAN, JR. 

